1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a pliers-like gripping device and more particularly to a gripper specifically adapted for a fisherman to hold a fish upright by its lower jaw using one hand so that the hook on which the fish was caught can be removed by the fisherman using his other hand.
2. Prior Art
Pliers, tongs, and other like devices for hand gripping have been known and in use for many years. Most all such devices include pivotally joined handle-jaw members having respective jaw portions adapted to compressively hold particular objects.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,750,817 discloses a pair of tongs particularly adapted to hold an end of a piece of wire. These tongs include a pivotal gripping plate. This plate is pivotally carried by a pin disposed in an arcuate-shaped slot formed in an outer end of an upper jaw member of the tongs. A bottom edge of the plate is V-shaped to fit in a complimentary formed V-shaped groove formed in an outer end of the lower jaw. Assuming a wire end does not fully seat when placed in this groove, the bottom edge of the gripping plate rotates to adjust to this non aligned position of wire.
A second example of a gripping device adapted for a specific purpose is set out in U.S. Pat. No. 2,779,123. In this case, the gripping device is a fishhook extractor formed with a pair of elongated jaws members. An inner surface of each member includes a semicircular groove that mate to define a passageway to hold a shank portion of a fishhook. An inner end portion of this passageway then arched sideways to exit from a side of the extractor jaw members.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,842,997 presents an example of a pair of pliers adapted to compressively hold a head of a nail-like fastener. These pliers have jaws formed respectively with lateral and longitudinal intersecting grooves and recesses. When the jaws of the pliers mate, a cross-shaped space is formed to hold a head and connecting shank portion of the fastener.
A further pair of pliers having pivotal jaws that are particularly useful for gripping nuts or bolts is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,022,291. In this case, pivotally joined upper and lower arms of the pliers have respective spaced apart sidewalls defining inwardly facing concave-shaped seating spaces. On an inner edge of each sidewall is a protrusion formed with a rectangular-shaped slot. Disposed in each seating space is a jaw member where the jaw member is secured by a pivot pin having ends carried in the sidewall protrusion slots. Seemingly, the jaw members rotate to effect optimum seating against a nut or bolt compressively held by work engagement surfaces of the jaw members.
Different from the gripping devices discussed above, U.S. Pat. No. 5,964,130 discloses a pair of locking pliers having a fixed upper jaw member joined to an upper handle having spaced apart sidewalls. This upper jaw member is formed with an inward facing, shallow V-shaped, serrated engaging surface. A lower jaw member of the pliers includes a base portion pivotally carried between spaced part sidewalls of a lower handle and pivotally carried between the sidewalls of the upper handle. Pivotally attached to an outer end of the lower jaw member is an engaging member having spaced apart sidewalls defining a space for disposition of the lower jaw member outer end. An inner end of the engaging member is forced away from the lower jaw member outer end by a spring carried by in a recess in the lower jaw member outer end.
Still further gripping devices are set out in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,822,915 and 5,921,016.